21 Easy And Comforting Instant Pot Recipes To Try This Winter (2024)

FAQs

What foods should not be cooked in an Instant Pot? ›

When it comes to breaking your Instant Pot in, it's a good idea to start with some basic foods and simple meals you're already familiar with, then slowly expand your Instant Pot repertoire from there. Try making staples like eggs, sweet potatoes, rice, or lentils using just the pressure cooker function.

Add at least half a cup of liquid, and don't go over the maximum. One of the things you'll learn about pressure cooking is that you don't need to add as much liquid as you would in regular recipes. But you'll still need to add some because the pressure cooker requires moisture to build that pressure.

Foods containing dairy, like milk, cream, or yogurt, should not be pressure-cooked. The high heat and pressure can cause dairy products to curdle or separate, ruining the texture, taste and flavour of the dish. Cooking fried foods is a strict no no, when it comes to pressure cookers.

But just because this versatile gadget can technically do it all, that doesn't mean it should. In fact, there are a handful of foods that just shouldn't be pressure-cooked. Among them are dairy and fried foods, as well as burgers and steaks. These foods are not Instant-Pot-friendly for a multitude of reasons.

The 5-5-5 method involves the following: 5-minute cook time. 5-minute natural pressure release. 5-minute ice bath.

In general, the Instant Pot Duo seems to be the most popular, because it offers excellent value — it's the most affordable model but still cooks seven ways and has basic, intuitive controls. The Duo also offers the Duo Crisp model that can also air fry.

Yes, it is safe to cook frozen food in a pressure cooker or an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot.

Stackable Instant Pot recipes: these are designed to be stacked and cooked together at the same time in the same pressure cooker! These balanced pairings all include one dish cooked in the main pot, along with another “Pot in Pot” (“PIP”) dish cooked in a secondary vessel or steamer basket.

What is an Instant Pot good for? ›

The Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker but also a slow cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, big sauté pot, steamer, and more. We have the 6-Quart Instant Pot Duo which is what we use for all our Instant Pot recipes. They also make a 3-Quart Instant Pot Mini and a hefty 8-quart Instant Pot.

Remember, Instant Pots take time to heat up. The Instant Pot will take 10 to 15 minutes to heat up and bring the pressure to proper levels, and then it will start the timer.

If you are interested primarily in slow cooking, you should buy a dedicated slow cooker. They're more reliable with a range of slow-cooker recipes than an Instant Pot. We found Instant Pot multicookers specifically could not successfully slow-cook dense, high-volume recipes such as beef stew or pot roast.

Pressure cooking time is determined by the thickness/size and not the quantity of food. Doubling the THICKNESS of meats, veggies, and other foods DOES require increasing cook time. The fuller the pot the longer it takes for the pot to reach pressure.

If becomes warped or damaged it will not connect with the heating element within the cooker base to cook your food properly. We do not recommend you using it on the stove top or placing the Instant Pot near any heat source, as per the 1 year warranty.

They are most commonly used in industrial settings to quickly prepare meat or stocks. However, in most scenarios, Elite Chefs avoid using pressure cookers because they provide less control over the final dish. Chefs often prefer slow cooking techniques that accentuate and pull out the flavors of the food.

Mostly we boil potatoes in a pressure cooker, but like rice, potatoes also contain a lot of starch. This is the reason why boiling or cooking in this pressure cooker is not considered good for health. If you still plan to use cooker for the same, add a lot of water and wash them thoroughly post cooking.

In general, seafood such as fish, oysters, shrimp, muscles and clams are just too delicate for pressure cooking and slow cooking modes.

“Instant pot recipes are absolutely healthy as long as what you put in the recipe is healthy,” she says. The shorter cooking time may also result in the greater preservation of vitamins and minerals when compared to other longer types of cooking.